Pelham Bay Park
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
and extending partially into Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
, is at 2766 acres (1,119.4 ha) the largest public park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. It is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
.
Overview
About 600 acres (2.4 km²) are tidal, and fluctuate between being walkable and underwater, due to rapid tide changes in the salt marshSalt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
es and the receding shoreline of Orchard Beach
Orchard Beach, New York
Orchard Beach is a public beach in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The beach is part of Pelham Bay Park and is situated on the western end of Long Island Sound...
. The park includes land on both sides of the Hutchinson River, as well as Hunters Island
Hunters Island, New York
Hunter Island is a small island in northeast Bronx, New York.The lagoon nearby was used for Olympic regatta training in the 1960s. Hunter Island is now connected to the nearby Twin Island and Rodman's Neck by landfill and sunken barges. These islands were privately owned before the city bought them...
, Twin Island
Twin Island, New York
Twin Island is part of Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, also part of the Hunter Island Marine Sanctuary. It is located east of Hunters Island and north of Orchard Beach.It is wooded with exposed bedrock with glacial grooves....
, and Two-Trees Island, all formerly true islands in Pelham Bay and now connected to the mainland by fill. On its north is the village of Pelham Manor
Pelham Manor, New York
Pelham Manor is a village located in Westchester County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 5,486. It is located in the town of Pelham.- Demographics :...
in Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
. The park borders the Bronx neighborhoods of Country Club
Country Club, Bronx
Country Club is a neighborhood located in the East Bronx in New York City. It shares the 10465 ZIP code with Throggs Neck, although it is part of Pelham Bay. The neighborhood's boundaries are Pelham Bay Park to the north, Eastchester Bay to the east, Layton Avenue to the south, and the New England...
, Pelham Bay
Pelham Bay, Bronx
Pelham Bay is a neighborhood in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City. It is named for Pelham Bay Park, New York City's largest park which lies on the neighborhood's northeastern border.-History:...
, City Island
City Island, Bronx
City Island is a small island approximately 1.5 mi long by .5 mi wide. At one time attached to the town of Pelham, Westchester County, it is now part of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As of the 2000 census the island had a population of 4,520. Its land area is 1.023 km²...
, and Co-op City
Co-op City, Bronx
Co-op City , located in the Baychester section of the Borough of the Bronx in northeast New York City, is one of the largest cooperative housing developments in the world. Situated at the intersection of Interstate 95 and the Hutchinson River Parkway, the community is part of Bronx Community Board 10...
.
The southern part of Rodman's Neck
Rodman's Neck
Rodman's Neck refers to a peninsula of land in the Bronx, New York jutting out into Long Island Sound.The southern third of the 'neck' is used as a firing range by the New York Police Department; the remaining wooded section is part of Pelham Bay Park...
is not part of the park but is occupied by the NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range
NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range
The NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range is a 54 Acre police training facility operated by The NYPD Firearms and Tactics Section on Rodman's Neck in the Bronx, New York City...
. The City Island Bridge
City Island Bridge
The City Island Bridge is a bridge in the New York City borough of the Bronx, connecting City Island and Rodman's Neck on the mainland. It is of stone and steel construction, and spans 950 ft . Construction was begun in 1899 and completed in 1901, at a cost of $200,000...
connects the park to City Island. A 19th century plantation-style mansion called Bartow-Pell Mansion
Bartow-Pell Mansion
The Bartow-Pell Mansion is a New York City landmark and museum located in northern portion of Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx. Originally the Robert and Marie Lorillard Bartow House, the residence and estate date back to 1654. The Lords of the Manor of Pelham once owned the home which was later...
is a colonial remnant done in Greek revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
style. It is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
The lagoon nearby was once part of Pelham Bay and was called LeRoy's Bay in colonial times. The lagoon was widened and dredged when it was chosen as the site of the 1964 Olympic Rowing trials.
At the northeast section of the park is Orchard Beach and a parking lot that were created by Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
as the Riviera of Long Island Sound. One third of Pelham Bay, from which the park got its name, was filled in with landfill to make Orchard Beach. The park is crossed by the New England Thruway
New England Thruway
The New England Thruway is a portion of the U.S. Interstate highway system and of the New York State Thruway, within and operated by the New York State Thruway Authority, linking New York City with New England, specifically with southwestern Connecticut...
, the Hutchinson River Parkway
Hutchinson River Parkway
The Hutchinson River Parkway is a north–south parkway in southern New York, United States. It extends for from the massive Bruckner Interchange in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx to the New York – Connecticut state line at Rye Brook...
, and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
railroad.
In the southeast section of the park, near the New England Thruway
New England Thruway
The New England Thruway is a portion of the U.S. Interstate highway system and of the New York State Thruway, within and operated by the New York State Thruway Authority, linking New York City with New England, specifically with southwestern Connecticut...
, there are 4 softball/baseball fields, a playground for children, picnic area, tennis courts, a parking lot and several trails for walking/biking/running. Moreover, there is a large running track that was recently renovated. The renovation was part of the New York City 2012 Olympic bid
New York City 2012 Olympic bid
The New York City 2012 Olympic bid was one of the five short-listed bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics, ultimately won by London 2012.New York City's Olympic Bid, run by the private non-profit organization NYC2012, was founded by Daniel L. Doctoroff, who was managing director of a successful private...
. This track has a bleacher section off to its side and surrounds a grassy area that is used for both soccer games and football games. There are two overpasses that span the New England Thruway
New England Thruway
The New England Thruway is a portion of the U.S. Interstate highway system and of the New York State Thruway, within and operated by the New York State Thruway Authority, linking New York City with New England, specifically with southwestern Connecticut...
and bring parkgoers from the residential area of Pelham Bay
Pelham Bay
Pelham Bay is a small bay, between City Island and Orchard Beach in the Bronx, New York.Technically, it is a sound, not a bay, since it is open to larger bodies of water at both ends. It connects to Eastchester Bay at the south, and opens onto Long Island Sound and City Island Harbor at the...
directly into this section of the park.
Bicycle path
Bicycle Path
Bicycle Path is a historic road in Central Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, built in the late 19th Century in order to capitalize on the bicycle craze of that period...
s go to all parts of the park and west to Bronx Park
Bronx Park
Bronx Park, laid out along the Bronx River in the Bronx, New York, is the home of the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Bicycle paths go northwest, north and east, along Mosholu Parkway, Bronx River Parkway and Pelham Parkway respectively...
, east to City Island, and north to Mount Vernon. The park is the home of the Bronx Equestrian Center where visitors can ride horses through the parks' trails, enjoy pony rides or obtain riding lessons.
Landmarks
- Orchard BeachOrchard Beach, New YorkOrchard Beach is a public beach in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The beach is part of Pelham Bay Park and is situated on the western end of Long Island Sound...
: a 115 acre (0.4653889 km²), 1.1 miles (1.8 km) long beach, man-made under Robert MosesRobert MosesRobert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
' supervision in the 1930s and the only public beach in the Bronx. - The Bartow-Pell MansionBartow-Pell MansionThe Bartow-Pell Mansion is a New York City landmark and museum located in northern portion of Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx. Originally the Robert and Marie Lorillard Bartow House, the residence and estate date back to 1654. The Lords of the Manor of Pelham once owned the home which was later...
and Museum: an elegant example of 19th century architecture. - Split RockSplit Rock (Bronx, New York)Split Rock is a large dome-shaped granite boulder measuring approximately from north to south and from east to west. It is located in the borough of The Bronx in New York City, at the southeast corner of the intersection of the New England Thruway and the Hutchinson River Parkway, near the...
: at the Hutchinson River Parkway's intersection with the New England Thruway; legend says that Anne Hutchinson, an early proponent of religious freedom, was killed here. - The Bronx Victory Column & Memorial GroveThe Bronx Victory Column & Memorial GroveThe Bronx Victory Column & Memorial Grove, built in 1933, is a 75-foot-tall limestone column that supports a bronze statue of Winged Victory on Crimi Road in Pelham Bay Park. While officially a memorial to servicemen from The Bronx, it is also a favorite location for wedding photography...
: a 75 feet (22.9 m) tall limestone column supporting a statue of Winged Victory, honoring servicemen from the Bronx who lost their lives defending their country. - Glover's RockGlover's RockGlover's Rock is a large granite glacial erratic in Pelham Bay Park, The Bronx, New York.The giant rock has a bronze plaque commemorating the American Revolutionary War Battle of Pell's Point. Colonel John Glover reputedly stood on the rock and watched the British forces land during the battle...
: a giant rock bearing a bronze plaque commemorating The Battle of Pell's Point during the Revolutionary War. - Hunter Island: a small island, home to the Kazimiroff Nature Trail.
- Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary: mostly salt marsh; egrets and heron can often be seen.
History
Anne HutchinsonAnne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...
's short-lived dissident colony, along with a number of other unsuccessful settlements, was located in what is now the park's land. The colony, though English, was under Dutch authority; it was destroyed in 1643 by a Siwanoy
Siwanoy
The Native American Siwanoy or Sinanoy were a band of Algonquian-speaking people, the Wappinger, in what is now the New York City area. By the mid-17th century, when their territory became hotly contested between Dutch and English colonial interests, the Siwanoy were settled along the East River...
attack in reprisal for the unrelated massacres carried out under Willem Kieft
Willem Kieft
Willem Kieft was a Dutch merchant and director-general of New Netherland , from 1638 until 1647. He formed the council of twelve men, the first representative body in New Netherland, but ignored its advice...
's direction of the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
's New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
colony. In 1654 an Englishman named Thomas Pell
Thomas Pell
Dates may not be entirely accurate in this article due to disagreements between sources.Thomas Pell was a physician who was famous for buying the area known as Pelham, Westchester, New York, as well as land that now includes the eastern Bronx and southern Westchester County. He founded the town...
purchased 50,000 acres (200 km²) from the Siwanoy, land which would become known as Pelham Manor after Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
's 1666 charter.
During the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the land was a buffer between British-held New York City and rebel-held Westchester. As such it was the site of the Battle of Pell's Point
Battle of Pell's Point
The Battle of Pell's Point , also known as the Battle of Pelham, was a skirmish fought between British and American troops during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War...
, where Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
hiding behind stone walls (still visible at one of the park's golf courses) stopped a British advance.
The park was created in 1888, under the auspices of the Bronx Parks Department, and passed to New York City when the part of the Bronx east of the Bronx River
Bronx River
The Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
was annexed to the city in 1895. Orchard Beach, one of the city's most popular, was created through the efforts of Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
in the 1930s.
In 1941, the New York Police Department used land from the park to create the Rodman's Neck Firing Range.
Wildlife sanctuaries
Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary and the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary consist of a total of 489 acres (2 km²) of marshes and forests within Pelham Bay Park. The City began landfill operations near this area on Tallapoosa Point in Pelham Bay Park in 1963. Plans to expand the landfills in Pelham Bay Park in 1966, which would have created the City’s second-largest refuse disposal site next to Fresh KillsFresh Kills
Fresh Kills is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the New York City borough of Staten Island...
in Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, were met with widespread community opposition. This struggle resulted in the creation of the sanctuaries by a local law, signed by Mayor John V. Lindsay on October 11, 1967.
The Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary makes up the westerly part of Pelham Bay Park (2,764 acres). Included within its bounds are Goose Creek Marsh and the saltwater wetlands adjoining the Hutchinson River as well as Goose Island, Split Rock, and the oak-hickory forests bordering the Split Rock Golf Course. The area is home to a variety of wildlife including raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
, egrets, hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
s, and coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
s. The Sanctuary is named for Thomas Pell
Thomas Pell
Dates may not be entirely accurate in this article due to disagreements between sources.Thomas Pell was a physician who was famous for buying the area known as Pelham, Westchester, New York, as well as land that now includes the eastern Bronx and southern Westchester County. He founded the town...
, the first European to control the land.
Located north of Orchard Beach, the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary encompasses all of Twin Islands, Cat Briar Island, Two Trees Island, and the northeastern shoreline of Hunter Island. It contains many noteworthy geological features including glacial erratics, large boulders that were deposited during the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
nearly 15,000 years ago. The rocky coast of Twin Islands, reminiscent of the New England shorefront, is the southernmost outcropping of Hartland Schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
, the major bedrock component of such coastlines. The sanctuary supports a unique intertidal marine ecosystem that is rare in New York State.
Around 1900, a land berm was created across Turtle Cove for rails for Horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
s. This berm caused the north end of Turtle Cove to become mostly freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
, which attracted freshwater drinking rare birds in the meadow. A 3 foot (0.9144 m) diameter concrete culvert was placed across the berm to allow salt water from Eastchester Bay, but leaves and vegetation blocked this culvert. In 2010 NYC Parks removed the old culvert and dug a trench with a backhoe machine to make a canal that floods the north end with salt water, which drives away the freshwater birds. The city Parks department placed an attractive foot bridge that allows park users to walk across this new canal and along the ancient land berm. Washington's Journals recalls the Battle Of Pell's Point took place at the Isthmus of Anne's Neck near some huge boulders by a freshwater meadow.
External links
- NYC Department of Parks & Recreation Pelham Bay Park Virtual Tour
- Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum
- The Bronx Equestrian Center